Another Premier League season is in the books but not before another frenzied finish that will live long in the memory.
Here, the PA news agency reflects on what we learned from the final round of fixtures.
City show their mettle
Manchester City won a fourth Premier League title in five seasons (Martin Rickett/PA)
After wilting in the Bernabeu cauldron earlier this month, there would have been some uncomfortable questions for Pep Guardiola had Manchester City been pipped to the title by Liverpool. And for moments in the last couple of weeks, it has seemed possible Guardiola’s side would fall flat. Against both West Ham and Aston Villa they fell 2-0 down but battled to a 2-2 draw against the former before a stunning turnaround versus the latter in a 3-2 win to claim a fourth title in five seasons. While this does not gloss over their Madrid heartbreak, they have shown a strong character to come through a testing time.
Liverpool have to move on – quickly
Liverpool’s quadruple bid ended on Sunday (Peter Byrne/PA)
Maybe the fact Liverpool did not, at any stage, go to the top of the standings on an absorbing final day will soften the blow. The title was never within their grasp, with only a couple of late goals securing a 3-1 win over Wolves. But an unprecedented quadruple is up in smoke and that will sting in the days ahead. But Jurgen Klopp can get his hands on the prize Guardiola covets the most as Liverpool travel to Paris to play Real Madrid in the Champions League final next weekend. Now, then, is no time to wallow. Adding the Champions League to FA and Carabao Cup gongs would still be a terrific season.
Tottenham redefine ‘Spursy’
Son Heung-min, pictured, has been irrepressible for Tottenham this season (Nigel French/PA)
There was a time when Tottenham would capitulate at the end of the season, and north London rivals Arsenal have revelled in their misfortune. But there was no indication there would be any slip-up at Carrow Road as Spurs ran in five goals against rock-bottom Norwich to bag the fourth and final Champions League spot. Arsenal won big – 5-1 against Everton – but that result was only good enough for Europa League football next season. Instrumental to Spurs this term has been South Korean forward Son Heung-Min, whose brace on Sunday means he shares the Golden Boot with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
Marsch-ing on together
Leeds head coach Jesse Marsch celebrates Premier League survival (John Walton/PA)
Hours after Leeds secured their top-flight status for another season, chairman Andrea Radrizzani gave his backing to head coach Jesse Marsch. The 48-year-old American has yet to convince a large section of the fanbase after replacing Marcelo Bielsa in February but Sunday’s 2-1 win at Brentford – coupled with Burnley’s defeat against Newcastle – went a long way to silencing his critics. And Radrizzani said: “We believe that with time and a full pre-season, Jesse will be the man to take this club forward.”
Burnley’s roll of the Dyche ultimately backfires
Burnley have been relegated to the Championship (Nick Potts/PA)
Burnley attracted heavy criticism for dispensing with Sean Dyche and while caretaker boss Mike Jackson won almost as many games in a month as the Clarets had in the eight beforehand, a 2-1 home defeat to Newcastle has ended their six-year stay in the division. An exodus of players could now happen, with captain Ben Mee and fellow defender James Tarkowski out-of-contract while goalkeeper Nick Pope and winger Dwight McNeil are also likely to move on. Meanwhile, Burnley’s accounts confirmed the club would need to repay a “substantial” portion of a £65million loan taken out during ALK Capital’s leveraged takeover in the event of their relegation. An instant return, at this time, does not look a certainty.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here